The present invention relates to electrical connector junction means and more particularly to electrical connector junction means for use with flat conductor cables lying along a floor.
Flat conductor cable was developed as an alternative to present electrical installation practice utilizing troughs or conduit placed below floor level. The flat cables are intended to be placed flush to the floor surface with the necessary branch circuits leading to the desired locations, and with carpeting then placed over the cable to provide a surface suitable for interior use and for personnel traffic. With such a system, it is necessary to provide electrical receptacles in a suitable housing secured to the floor for termination at each of the desired locations. Coupled with this arrangement is the requirement for providing a suitable electrical/mechanical transition and connection between the flat conductors (which are generally of a thin rectangular cross-section) and the conventional round wire conductors to be used for the electrical receptacles.
In the prior art, flat conductor cable has generally been used for telecommunications equipment and not necessarily in a power distributor system for offices, etc. With telecommunication flat cable, it is generally necessary to use complicated devices or couplings for terminating the flat conductor cable and which are adapted to mate with other suitable coupling devices secured to other conductors, such as for example, conventional round wire conductors which are connected to the telephones and/or other equipment. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,801 entitled "Electrical Connector Junction for Carpeted Floor", there are provided mating connectors or couplers for providing a transition from the flat conductor cables of a telecommunication system to the conventional round wire conductor or cable which, in that embodiment, extends to conventional telephone equipment or junction boxes. As can be appreciated, such complicated arrangements necessarily take up a good deal of space, as well as being quite complicated to manufacture and install onto the conductor cable. Further, such arrangements relating to telecommunication systems do not necessarily involve or require the same considerations as are concerned with flat conductor cable for use in power distribution systems. For example, power distribution systems generally function at higher voltage than telecommunication equipment. Also, the number of conductors at each junction is small in a power distribution system compared to the number of conductors at the junctions in telecommunication equipment.